Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday during a speech in Istanbul that Turkey “strongly supports” the leaders of Hamas, AFP and Agerpres reported.

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip ErdoganPhoto: Hiromi Uechi/AP/Profimedia

“No one can force us to classify Hamas as a terrorist organization. Turkey is a country that openly discusses everything with the leaders of Hamas, whom it firmly supports,” said the head of the Turkish state.

The US and the EU consider Hamas a terrorist movement.

An ardent defender of the Palestinian cause, Turkish President Erdogan has been one of Israel’s fiercest critics since the start of the Gaza war, launched in response to a bloody attack carried out by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7 on Israeli territory. The Hamas attack killed at least 1,160 people, according to an AFP balance sheet based on official Israeli figures.

Since then, the Israeli offensive has killed more than 30,960 people, mostly women and children, according to Hamas authorities.

The head of the Turkish state called Israel a “terrorist state” several times and accused it of “committing genocide” in Gaza.

Erdogan, who in 2022 opened a new era in relations with Israel after a decade of heated disputes, also assessed that there is “no difference” between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Adolf Hitler.

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